Adûnaic

êruhînim dubdam ugru-dalad

[the Children of Eru] fell under shadow

The 2nd phrase of the Lament of Akallabêth (SD/247). Tolkien did not interpret the name Êruhînim in any version of the text, but elsewhere it is glossed “Children of God (Eru)” (SD/248). Tolkien’s gloss was “‽ fell ‽shadow under/beneath”, with the translation of the last word differing slightly in the typescript (SD/247) and manuscript (VT24/12). In ordinary English the phrase might be “the Children of Eru fell under shadow”.

The subject Êruhînim of the sentence is the subjective plural form of #Êruhin. The verb dubdam seems to be in the aorist form of #dubud- “to fall”, glossed in past tense because it is in a narrative occurring in the past. The verb has the plural marker -m in agreement with the number of the subject. The word dalad “under, beneath” is suffixed to the noun it modifies, as is usual of Adûnaic prepositions.

The previous (second draft) version of this sentence (SD/312) differs only in its use of the verb form dubbudam (past tense) instead of the final version’s form dubdam (aorist). The first draft version used all the same words but differed in its grammar.

Changes

  • ēruhīnim dubbudam ugru-daladēruhīnim dubdam ugru-dalad ✧ SD/247

Cognates

Element in

Variations

  • ēruhīnim dubdam ugru-dalad ✧ SD/247; VT24/12
  • ēruhīnim dubbudam ugru-dalad ✧ SD/312
Adûnaic [SD/247; SD/312; VT24/12] Group: Eldamo. Published by